Hawke64

To follow up on the previous post, Nighthawks has a better saving system than most/any WoD VNs, a better story and the player's agency than Vampyr, and better performance than Bloodlines 2. Admittedly, all those titles were severely lacking in the particular aspects, but all together it comes to a not too horrible experience.

Finished Nighthawks. It has some amusing moments, but a bit too linear with act endings and inflexible with the options. Act 4, ending, spoilers To elaborate on the choice of name, I was quite unhappy with the lack of some basic functions, such as windowed mode, while the developers so "wisely" invested in implementing full VA (which I disabled on hearing the second NPC I met), so it was one of 3 occasions where I saw the name. Ending(s), spoilers Tried Ruin: Beast City, demo. Overall, looks lovely, runs well, the hitboxes are a bit odd, the full keyboard and mouse rebinding will be in the full version. It is a boss rush game about an assassin hunting supernatural beings.

Nighthawks The NPC does look like one of the Seeds of Chaos (NSFW) main characters. UI, equipment selection. The stat boosts are not shown before the items are equipped. The save management menu. It was amusing.

When I tried the playtest (in February?), the performance was disappointing. It is also a tactical game rather than a CRPG. The combat tutorial was fine, though. I did not play further due to the performance issues and the lack of any options to improve it. At least the latter should be addressed in the full game.

To clarify, playing as one of the companions is worse as you as the player do not have the information you should have as the character (it is not provided as inner monologue or in the journal). Nighthawks. I've reached Act 3 and somewhat running out of steam - the UI friction annoys me considerably. Primarily, the equipment (however rarely I change it, I want to see the stats before I equip something), the companion bonuses (same, and now I cannot find one of them I need for a side quest), and the map. The issue there is that I need to go through several screens to change the location and it is unpleasant when I need to visit several in quick succession. In the case of the taxi, I would prefer to see the list with the sorting by main > sub-area and the other way around (when I remember the name but not the district). Now I believe I should wait for an NPC to leave their workplace, so I can look through it, or try to talk to the elusive companion who's not at their "last known" location. I guess I like the absence of quest markers conceptually but when I need to go through several of the same actions every in-game day (go to the bar, have a drink, grab a companion, go to the taxi), the novelty wears off. The lack of hotkeys, except for saving and the very limited log, does not help. The positive aspect is that once the main quest for the Act is concluded, you can skip to the next story event. Another thing is that in many scenes, there are too few options to interfere, which is not unusual, but nonetheless disappointing. On the other hand, some options and the ability to opt-out are convenient. I suppose I can blame the VA (which I turned off 2 lines in) for the PC's name never being used in dialogues. I have seen it just twice in the newspapers (I am deeply proud of the name chosen for this run which reflects my creativity and determination). The story overall feels slightly less engaging than in Bloodlines 2, but at least Nighthawks does not have performance issues. The visual style still does not appeal at all and I have not got used to it. I appreciate that most (a half?) of the scenes have an internal map (with the navigation via the dialogue menu). This consistency adds to immersion. The companions always leaving during the longer story missions I appreciate less.

There is value in a large number of people with a wide range of hardware providing information on how software performs on it, so "didn't run - bad game" is a type of review I wholeheartedly appreciate as it helps me with my purchase decisions. If something indeed does not run or lacks crucial accessibility options, the developers can kindly go and learn to code. I can find a deeper analysis of the story or gameplay systems after purchasing if I enjoyed the game enough to care. I also can acknowledge that different people prioritise different aspects of the interactive art.

Larian's D&D game. I did 4-5 runs (a halfling rogue, a half-elf sorc, a gith warrior, the same half-elf but from mid-game, Wyll, started a dragon bard, but have not finished). It's not long (15-40h) and I enjoyed being able to choose what I wanted to do and to be able to control the combat (or the absense of it up to the end of Act 2). The thing is that you must not see the game as a CRPG, but an imm-sim - find interesting ways to do things, do not allow the corpses-to-become to monologue at you, sneak past ambushes. Would have replayed again if not for the size - 130GB+ are infuriating and the lack of will to fix the worst (or the second worst after the lore-unfriendliness) flaw of the software is disappointing. Here's to hope that the hardware shortages will align Larian's and my priorities. Nighthawks. Finished Act 1. Can't tell how much the story branches (got a game over when refused to become the owner of the titular nightclub), but the presense of the map is welcome. The UI not showing equipment stats before it is equipped is less so. There are some small interesting features, such as the lack of clothes being a functional choice of attire and the sewers having maps, and it is playable overall. Erotic content is present (mentioning as it was an issue with releasing the game), but it is not particularly descriptive. The developers are also actively engaging and moderating the Steam forums, which is commendable.

Drova So I sold him 10 swords. I finally could equip the axe I found in the first few hours. Went as good as one could expect. I have a magic rock I need to shove into a druid. The non-human corpses decay. Chapter 3 (Nemeton and Remnants) Chapter 4

Finished Drova. The first chapter was an excellent exploration experience offering multiple ways to solve quests and approach challenges, while the outcomes also were different. Unfortunately, from Chapter 3 and onwards, the main story had to move forward and it was a fairly linear endeavour - there was a series of dungeons to clear with little choice in terms of story. I could express being unsatisfied with some actions, but I could not not do them if I wanted to see the ending. There also were optional combat challenges locked behind the Misty Step ability, which, given the difficulty, was not wrong. The issue with linearity is that the less choice there is, the less attachment to the outcome. So, by the end I was mostly watching my stats going up. Still, it reminds me of what I appreciate about the Obsidian games - the ability to not compromise with cruelty or incompetence. To stand your ground and say no. Then to drive your sword through someone's face and loot their body. So, back to Drova, the equipment and level progression are very well done - each new item feels like a significant improvement and there are just enough of them to have options without spending too much time on inventory management (could go with more armour sets). On a related note, the non-human enemy corpses decay between chapters which is quite impressive, while the missed ingredients (due to the lack of the relevant skill) can be collected from the bodies after the initial looting which is nice. The NPCs have just enough time to get the general idea about them and I did like the smaller factions, though not so much the main ones. I am also delighted that the game is VA-free and the soundtrack is largely fitting and unobtrusive. In summary, it was a positive experience overall, despite the narrative weakness of the later chapters. Started Nighthawks. It is a visual novel in a legally distinct from the World of Darkness setting. So far, I've got through the character creation (it is decent) and managed to force the game to run in a windowed mode. The installation size is fairly large for a VN, 7.8GB, and I cannot bin the VA, as everything is one not-archive. The game uses Godot (which is an excellent general game engine) and has quite a few technical gaps (starting with the not working windowed mode and the presence of VA) - saving and loading in different places, no ability to view the previous lines, effectively no UI scaling. The thing is that all of it is available in Ren'Py out-of-the-box and it's not even animation-heavy like Stray Gods, so the choice of engine is puzzling. The art is somewhat unappealing. Beats VTM Reckoning, but it is not a high bar. I hope that the gameplay systems and narrative are better than the visual art and technical aspects.

Usual June (demo) Hypnos (demo) An open area. Needless to say, the GPU disapproved. Silly Polly Beast (demo) Drova

Drova Primeval Forest Somehow, my favoured weapon type is axe now and I usually go with swords or daggers. Tried Blackshard and Hypnos demos. They ran poorly.

SteamDB does not host the files, only the Steam metadata of the apps, such as depot IDs, which you need to download the files via Steam CLI. You also need to own the related game for it to work. I have not tried it for the larger titles, but it worked fine for Signalis - 1 command and the older version dropped onto my hard drive and I had to move it into the "common" SteamApps folder. For the more recent version, signing up is not required, so unless the game is actively patched, you should be fine. Admittedly, if Steam handled updates better and the developers allowed a less painful rollback (via the beta branches), using SteamDB would not be needed. This example is for a large game (Larian's D&D game) with frequent patches, so it would require an account: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3023295121. It is a relatively straightforward step-by-step guide and it explains the process. I would add that your approach, keeping specific versions on your own hardware, is safer as long as you have more than 1 copy. The modding unrelated use case for SteamDB is pricing monitoring.

Regarding time limits in games in general, it can work if the game is balanced around it and not you vacuuming all map of XP. I liked it in The Séance of Blake Manor, so I had to prioritise the relevant items and dialogue options without having to go through everything. There also were several ways to gain specific information. I cannot quite recall how it was in Expeditions: Viking (there was a timer and several paths to victory), but I have not finished Expeditions: Rome which did not have a time limit and expected you to clear whole large maps (and frequently with random mercs, which annoyed me a lot). There's also Pathfinder: Kingmaker, though there were several factors that could lead to a death spiral. Tried Silly Polly Beast demo. Got repeatedly bodied in a corridor where 2 waves of foes spawned in front and behind me and I ran out of ammo. After a few more attempts, I got to the next room, with low health and no ammo with predictable results. It is heavily inspired by Silent Hill (you wake up in some demonic realm after doing a thing and falling into a well), the art is lovely, the controls are rebindable, the saving system is bad (a single overwriting auto-save per playthrough, 3 slots in total). The gotcha is that it is combat-heavy, up to being an action game, rather than a survival horror, and you need to hold the interaction key to unlock the next door, so you have to clear the rooms, while the foes revive when you re-enter. The one and only defence option, rolling, amusingly, does not consume stamine, but hitting enemies in melee does. There's also something about the setting that bugs me, but I cannot quite pinpoint it (it being Eastern Europe? The MC being very anime-styled, but everything else not?). Good audio design, though.

I've read the reviews and some comments for Dawnwalker. It might be fun, but I am definitely going to leave the paying testers to face the first wave of bugs and performance issues. Speaking of, the price tag and me strongly disliking TW3 do not encourage purchasing it now either. Played Drova some more and visited the main towns. After ~10 hours of exploration, I forgot what the main quest was about, so had to reread the journal. I also was able to avoid being kidnapped (this time the bandits were not immortal and died to the same type of mini-boss), then, after several attempts, reached the potential kidnappers' base and somehow cleared it (of bandits only, as the giant worms were 2-shooting me). So, the exploration is satisfying overall and the story should get going more actively now.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-internet-we-once-loved-is-gone-steamdb-founders-announce-the-community-run-database-has-been-acquired-by-nexus-mods-owners https://steamdb.info/blog/steamdb-nexus-mods/ No strong opinion - something as large as SteamDB can be challenging to run and it is easy to burn out, while the new owners may or may not try to en****tify the service. It might be beneficial for the core model of Nexus, as Steam still forces the updates (unless you beat it with a metaphorical metal pipe), which break the mods. So, it can go either way, but I understand the SteamDB founders' logic.